prolongue

Some very interesting news articles of late that I can't help but talk about. Normally I think that the state of newsprint globally is a dire one, but there are some exceptional articles of reporting that redeem the reporter and give credence and honour to the term 'newspaperman'. Unfortunately recently, it has been the English and American newspapers. I still think that the Economist, the FT, the Guardian, the New York Times and the Washington Post stand at the very vanguard of publishing. Some examples are today's article on UN reform by an ex-British Ambassador to the UN in the FT (on expanding the scope of secretary-general selection with a list of particularly commonsense reform action points), an article on Chief Justice Roberts' first dissenting opinion (and the remarkably candid antagonistic opinions from the majority), an article in yesterday's FT on the rise of China (titled Shock and Ore), talking about the very real consequences of Chinese outsourcing and growth in demand, and some articles on wine and food in the New York Times and the headlining article on Salon on the Hillary Juggernaut (with a very clever and intelligent advice letter to potential Democratic challengers) And also the astrologer's column in the Washington Post although I suspect I would get far more accurate readings from the Hindu newspapers locally).

There seems to be such a surfeit of things to do and possibilities. Wherever I go, I can't help but feel that I am never doing enough, never taking full advantage of the vast resources afforded to me, never reading as much as I should or writing as much as I should, never learning new languages, or keeping up with the old enough, never learning new musical talents (like carnatic music) or old dance traditions (bharatha natyam, roadkill when moving to Singapore), never learning how to cook wonderful, exotic dishes in keeping with sri lankan culinary traditions, never in touch enough with old friends and old passions, never being active in politics etc.etc.etc. The list is endless and very dispiriting if pondered upon long enough.

On watching a movie, as I had written to a friend and which brought back long ago memories...

My favourite form of escapism. That moment sitting in the darkness in the old Cathay cinemas having bunked school and wearing a t-shirt over the RGS pinafore, that moment just before the curtains opened and the screen glowed, seemed to me the moment most pregnant with possibilities, a moment where the best of life was about to happen, where expectations and reality coincided, where the past was forgotten and only new marvels languished in the wings, waiting to fly onto screen and become discovered, become corporeal.